IND vs SL: ‘Jaydev Unadkat and Rahul Tewatia could have been included’ – Deep Dasgupta


IND vs SL: ‘Jaydev Unadkat and Rahul Tewatia could have been included’ – Deep Dasgupta

Jaydev Unadkat, Deep Dasgupta and Rahul Tewatia

Former India wicketkeeper-batsman Deep Dasgupta commented on the squad announced by the Board of Cricket in India (BCCI) for the tour of Sri Lanka. 

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BCCI picked a 20-member squad along with five net bowlers to be a part of the Sri Lanka-bound flight. Ace opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan was named as the captain of the side while Bhuvneshwar Kumar was appointed as his deputy. 

Dasgupta opined that selection has become so easy during these pandemic times. However, he reckoned that players like Jaydev Unadkat and Rahul Tewatia should have also made it to the squad. The former has done exceptionally well in domestic cricket while Tewatia has been dropped without getting any opportunity in the playing XI.

“I feel selection has become so easy during these pandemic times. There are six matches – three T20Is and three ODIs. You have picked a squad of 25-20 players and five net bowlers. You could have included a couple of other players too, what did they do wrong?

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“Players like Jaydev Unadkat and even Rahul Tewatia, who was part of the squad during the last series, could have been included. Wouldn’t have made any difference to take 27 instead of 25,” Dasgupta said.

‘Really like Jaydev Unadkat because he is so hardworking and passionate’

The former cricketer particularly felt bad for Jaydev Unadkat who has failed to even make it to the reckoning in the eyes of selectors. Youngster Chetan Sakariya has been picked as the left-arm pacer ahead of the Saurashtra skipper. 

“I don’t have much to say about the team selection. There are 20 players, so whoever was in contention has made it. There can’t be any surprises. I really like Jaydev Unadkat because he is so hardworking and passionate. Not just in the IPL, he bowls 20-25 overs in the Ranji Trophy, works hard, and is absolutely brilliant. Like I said before, if you are taking 25, could have taken 26 as well, it would have made no difference,” he added.

Full Squad: Shikhar Dhawan (c), Prithvi Shaw, Devdutt Padikkal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Suryakumar Yadav, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Nitish Rana, Ishan Kishan (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Yuzvendra Chahal, Rahul Chahar, K Gowtham, Krunal Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Bhuvneshwar Kumar (vc), Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini, Chetan Sakariya

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